The Tao of Art Workshop II: Comics!

Purple Cloud is excited to announce that art therapist Katharine Houpt (of Katharine Houpt Art Therapy and Counseling) and acupuncturist/meditation teacher Sonny Zaide will be teaming up together again for “The Tao of Art II: Comics!” on July 28th, 2016!

In the last workshop, we married the therapy of creating visual art (drawings/paintings) with the Taoist philosophy of “Wu-Wei,” or effortless action, by learning how to spontaneously bring forth your inner creativity without getting in your own way or trying too hard. But in this coming workshop, we will be extending that philosophy into creating stories with our drawings with comics!

Katharine, who will be teaching the bulk of the class, has an amazing background in the creation of comics. Both she and I share the same love of illustrations created by renown cartoonists Linda Barry (What It Is) and Matt Groening (School is Hell, The Simpsons). So when it comes to comics, Katharine is an amazing teacher to learn from. More on her biohere.

Comics are an amazing way to tell your own stories. They can be lighthearted or deep, long or short. You don’t have to be a “good artist” to have fun with them. For example, here’s two from Sonny (click to enlarge):

Written for a friend

Written on a restaurant placemat

The class will feature Sonny leading a pre-workshop Taoist meditation in order to get you in the mindset of inner peace and spontaneity, and Katharine will be leading you through a short series of drawing exercises as a warm-up. Then you’ll be left to peacefully allow your spirit to bring forth the images of your innermost mind onto your paper. Post-workshop discussion is optional if you’d like to talk about your comics, and where it comes from deep within your heart.

Our goal is to show you that by keeping your mind calm, you can express yourself through effortlessness; that true art and happiness comes from being at peace with your own inner beauty.